ACU puts eight-match winning streak on line

Wildcats head south to take on Incarnate Word, St. Mary's

SAN ANTONIO -- The red-hot ACU Wildcats will take their  eight-match winning streak to San Antonio this weekend for a pair of  non-conference matches against Heartland Conference foes Incarnate  Word and St. Mary's.

The Wildcats will take on the Lady Crusaders of Incarnate  Word at 7 p.m. Friday, followed by a 2 p.m. match Saturday against  the Lady Rattlers of St. Mary's.  Incarnate Word is 9-10 on the season, while St. Mary's is 8-7.

The Wildcats won their eighth straight match in dominating fashion Tuesday night, going on the road to beat Cameron in four games, 30-24, 32-30, 24-30, 30-25.  As usual, ACU was led by sophomore outside hitter Michelle Bernhardt, who recorded 22 kills and 18 digs while hitting .283 for the match.

Bernhardt -- who leads the Wildcats with 342 kills and is on pace to shatter her mark of 423 last season -- has recorded at least 21 kills in seven matches this season, including in three of the Wildcats' last five matches.  She also leads the team in hitting percentage at .306, and is second in digs with 205.

Sophomore setter Lindsey Martin had another solid match against Cameron, recording 55 assists to give an Lone Star Conference-best 868 for the season.  She is averaging 11.89 assists per game, which ranks second in the LSC behind West Texas A&M's all-America setter Kendra Morgan, who is averaging 11.93 assists per game.

The Wildcats have four players with at least 100 kills on the season, led, of course by Bernhardt and followed by senior outside hitter Haylee Hartline (236 kills and 120 digs), sophomore middle blocker Amanda Slate (215 kills and 69 digs) and sophomore outside hitter Ashlee Motola (115 kills and 32 digs).  Junior libero Kellen Morrow leads the club with 264 digs.

After the two matches against Incarnate Word and St. Mary's, ACU will begin LSC South Division play next weekend with a pair of home matches against Eastern New Mexico (Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.) and West Texas A&M (Oct. 11 at 2 p.m.).